Keep your hands up!

For the life of me I couldn't keep my hands up today. That resulted in many hits to the head and face. Luckily we weren't going full speed. The drill was to have on person on offense and one on defense. My deltoid muscles were very tired today since in class last night we did nothing but slow-flow and lots of push-ups, and then I did two hours of massage before class today. So, I was tired, that's what I'm contributing my lack of defense to. But it was damn frustrating! Last night I got a good clip to the nose and lip and a really good clip to my shin (which I was using to block a kick, which turned into a knee. Ouch). Argh, I complain too much. I'm just feeling very frustrated today and I'm trying to let it go. My body and my mind are tired. I've been doing so much with both lately and they are feeling a little fried today. My massage practice is very busy right now (15-20 massages per week. That's a lot in this business) so that alone makes my body tired. Trying to fit it all in is becoming harder and I find myself escalating into an almost frenzy. My husband is feeling a little forgotten. Do any of you who have spouses that don't do martial arts have that same problem? It's tough right now to find that balance between martial arts and life and integrating the two to where there's an even flow.

I'm also feeling a little scared about sparring with other's I don't know at the shodan shiai. Master Morallo brings black belts with him from his dojo to the test, people whom I've never met, and they will try to hurt you. Yikes. That's making me a little nervous seeing as my hands practically refused to stay up today. But that is today. I will not be working on the day of my test so that I will be rested and well-fed. Yes, well-fed is a good thing and sometimes it doesn't always happen and I go to class with not much energy. Again, balance....